No label defined (Q4940906)

The authors present a survey on recent results connected to the discrete linear vector Hamiltonian system \[ \Delta x(t)= A(t)x(t)+ B( t)u(t),\quad\Delta u(t)=C(t)x(t)-A^*(t)u(t), \] where \(B(t)\) and \(C(t)\) are \(n \times n\) Hermitian matrix functions on the discrete interval \([a,b]:= \{a,a+1, \dots,b\},a,b \in\mathbb{Z}\), and it is assumed that \(I-A(t)\) is nonsingular on \([a, b]\). The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces linear Hamiltonian difference systems and explains how they are special cases of symplectic difference systems. Section 3 gives an introduction to symplectic systems and introduces important notions such as conjoined bases, generalized zeros, focal points, and disconjugacy. In Section 4 are introduced the concept and provided the motivation of trigonometric systems. An explicit transformation is also offered which transforms any symplectic system into a trigonometric system and preserves oscillatory behavior. Section 6 presents an overview of the discrete calculus of variations. In Section 7 an introduction is given to the theory of Stefan Higler in order to unify discrete and continuous analysis.